Dear Sister
by Quig Alchemist
Summary: LR gets a new plant and Vash, Millie, Meryl go see it. Except Vash is feeling really sick. He sees the plant and has to leave for fear he will pass out. He stumbles into a room, intstantly knowing why he was feeling so bad.
1. Chapter 1

Here's another one of my random and somewhat depressing stories about Vash and his secret connection with the plants. (Not for long!) D/C: I don't own Trigun or any of its characters. All rights belong to those people who DO own them. Yeah, so please read and review Dear Sister!

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Dear Sister

"Can you believe it? We're getting a new plant!" Millie jumped gleefully, and grabbed both of Meryl's hands. The big girl spun around in a circle, twirling across from her shorter companion. They laughed with delight, beginning to get a little dizzy, as the two nearly missed crashing into the coffee table.

"I know! You'd never think a small town like LR would get a brand new plant!" Meryl smiled and looked to the blonde man resting on the couch. He faintly returned her bright smile.

"Let's go see it! I'm so excited! I can hardly wait!" The tall brunette broke her hold with Meryl, sending her spinning into Vash's lap, and rushed to the coat rack. She pulled off her own coat along with Meryl's cape of derringers.

"Yeah…" Meryl said absentmindedly. She glanced up to Vash, quickly getting off of him, as she caught the cape Millie threw toward her. She fastened her overcoat of derringers around herself, and noticed that her friend was already half way out the door. The brunette woman then briefly turned around under the impression that the other two weren't following her lead. Meryl also turned around and saw that the man on the couch hadn't moved an inch after helping her up off his lap He had a blank expression on his face, with few traces of a hidden smile that was just barely there. He seemed hesitant to the excitement; this was completely unlike his personality.

"Are you coming?" Millie asked, placing a hand on her hip, threatening to look impatient.

The humanoid typhoon shrugged his shoulders and slowly rose to his feet with a soft smile and a sigh. His arms hung loosely by his sides as he strode toward the door.

"Well, let's be on our way then." He said quietly and stepped through the doorway, following the two insurance girls.

The three's footprints left light indentions in the sandy road's surface, and the deep blue sky stretched overhead endlessly. The bright puffy clouds provided just enough shade from the two beaming suns, as they traveled toward a rather large crowd. The sea of people cascaded from buildings around them, all of which were trying to get their first look at the newest addition to the town.

"Hey Vash! Over here!" The spikey stampede looked up to see a short bald man waving madly as he stood on a platform connected to a house overhanging the crowd. "Up here! Quickly!" Vash looked dumbly up to the deck two stories above him. The small man smiled and pointed to a set of stairs.

Vash immediately relayed the information to Millie and Meryl and they soon began the climb up the short flight of stairs. The man, Brian, was excitedly awaiting their arrival in an official looking white coat.

"Glad you came!" He said cheerfully, vigorously shaking the blonde's hand. "I wanted you to be one of the first to see it!" The red coated man smiled unsurely, releasing his firm grip with Brian.

"Maybe there is _one _good thing about living with you!" Meryl said with a grin, elbowing Vash jokingly. He didn't really react, and she began to feel that she was the only one to notice his strange mood. Something was definitely not right about him today.

The girls had wild, excited eyes that absorbed everything possible, as they trembled all over. They both looked to Brian with anticipation as he led his three special guests into a large domed room. It contained all sorts of monitoring equipment along with many workers to control the entire system of computers. They finally arrived at a large and shiny, steel plated door that read _Authorized Personnel Only: Plant 2_ that Brian easily opened with his thumbprint.

"I wanted to repay you for all the kind things you've done for us Vash." Brian said as the door made a hissing noise sliding apart.

A bright, but not blinding light flooded the room, causing the newcomers to squint. Brian was already used to the sensation, but it took the others a few moments more for their eyes adjust to the enormous, pure white plant filling up the room's space. The plant was encased in a clear glass bulb surrounded by its own feathers inside. It may have look normal or maybe even amazing to everyone else, but to Vash, it was a helpless imprisoned being. He tore his eyes from the scene and quickly fixed them on his boots.

"It's…it's…" Millie stammered, her eyes shining brightly with genuine excitement and disbelief.

"Incredible…" Meryl finished for her in awe. They stared together at the shimmering surface and the bunch of angelic white feathers contiguous to the plant. The girls looked to each other for an instant, and then ran forward for a closer, more detailed look of the girl in the bulb.

Vash was rooted to the floor. His soft blue eyes darted around the room uncertainly and he bit his lip. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, obviously not wanting to be there.

"I, uh, have to go to the bathroom…" He muttered quickly and turned on his heel back to the door the group had previously entered.

"What?" Meryl wondered aloud, as she, Millie, and Brian turned around curiously. They only saw the door close as the tail of the gunman's red coat whipped by it.

Vash felt a sick sensation in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't quite explain it. He'd been around other plants in the past, but something about this place made his feel terrible.

He stumbled right on past the men's restroom and toward the rusty old door marked as _Plant 1_. Sweat rolled down his face, as he clumsily opened the door where the thumbprint lock had long been removed. It slid back with a less spectacular hiss than its successor, and revealed a dust covered room with no personnel inside.

Vash instantly grew pale, as realized why he had been feeling so ill.

A withering plant with jet black hair was nearly hidden by a mass of dingy, unimpressive feathers. The layer of dirt and grime covering the outside of the bulb was thick and masked the indecent parts of the plant's body well. It had obviously been left here to die.

Vash collapsed to his knees and his heart pounded painfully. He gasped for air and crawled forward to the plant slowly. She was suffering terribly and Vash knew it. He could feel her dying and it was eating him inside.

"Dear sister…" The man in red mumbled as he lifted a shaking hand to the glass. "Don't go…" He couldn't find the strength in his legs as he groped for something to hang on to. "Hang on…just a little longer…" His shuddering breath stopped suddenly as the two plants' eyes locked with one another.

Her gaze was dim as she neared the man on the opposite side of the glass. She placed a cold palm on the other side of his, and Vash lifted his left hand to the sleek surface, finding some strength through the plant. He tilted his head forward and pressed his forehead against the glass, and a tear slid down his cheek.

Vash felt her life fading fast, and any resistance to his overpowering emotions was now gone. He quaked slightly and let the tears stream down his face uncontrollably. This plant, Vash the Stampede's own family, would be dead in a matter of minutes.

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This is just chapter 1 and I think there's only going to be 3 chapters. Please give me a review! I'm sorry to make Vash cry…give him hugs! I hope you'll continue to read as well! Thankies in advance!

-Quig-


	2. Chapter 2

Almost done. Only one more wrapper upper chapter after this one. Hope you like and please read and review! Thanks to Alaena Night and Amanda the Stampede for their comments! Love you guys lots!

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Chapter 2

Brian tinkered with Plant 2's controls, pressing a complicated series of buttons, as the two insurance girls watched in amazement.

"Vash sure has been gone awhile…I hope he's alright." Meryl said with concern, as she strode to the exit.

"Where are you going Meryl?" Millie asked, completely missing the short girl's previous point. She broke her gaze from the plant and looked at her partner curiously.

"Vash seemed a little pale earlier. I'm going to go see if he's okay." She opened the sliding door without hesitation and was gone, not waiting for a response from Millie.

Meryl walked down the hallway with determination, but stopped as she came upon the men's restroom. She curled her small hand into a fist and rapped her knuckles solidly on the silver door.

"Vash!" No answer. "Vash, are you in there or not?" There was still no answer. Meryl sighed and leaned against the door, unsure of what to do next.

As if in answer, the desperate girl spotted a brisk young man walking past. He had a clipboard in one hand and adjusted his broad rimmed glassed on his nose with his other. Meryl latched onto the hand near his face and pulled him to a halt. She spun around in front to face him and looked him dead in the eye. The boy actually took a retreating step back from the sudden assault.

"Have you seen a tall blonde man wearing a red coat come by here?" She asked urgently, watching the man's eyes reel wildly.

"Y-yeah…about five minutes ago he went in there." The stuttering man pointed to a rusty door displaying _Plant 1_. Meryl released the grip on his arm and nodded a quick 'thank you'. She then ran to the door and opened the door without a second thought.

"Vash!" The girl cried out, seeing the blonde man hunched over in the floor before the plant. His arms were spread out across the bulb and his face was pressed against its glass. Meryl ran to his side and looked down at the man with the tears of pain and anger pouring from his eyes.

"She's dying Meryl. They left her to die…don't they care at all?!" Meryl shifted her gaze between the two plants, clearly confused. Not knowing what else to do, she reached out and placed a supportive hand on the gunman's shoulder.

"It's alright Vash," She began softly, attempting to calm him down. "It's just a plant…" The second the words left her lips, she knew it was the wrong thing to say.

Vash cast an angry glare mixed with deep hurt that took Meryl's breath away. He shrugged the caring hand from his shoulder in one quick movement as well.

"She's not just 'a plant'." He said through gritted teeth, as he looked back to his dying sister. "She's living now and deserves life just as much as the rest of us. She's just like…she's just like…me." Vash said at last, looking down to the dismal gray floor uncertainly.

"Like you…? You must be joking…You can't be a…a plant!"

"Well, I am." He continued his steady gaze at the floor, not yet wanting to face the truth he would soon see in Meryl's frightened eyes. "Haven't you ever thought I was different?"

"Yes, but not like that…I never thought…"

"My brother and I were the rejections of our kind and we've been living our lives as independents…I'm over 150 years Meryl!" Vash's voice rose as it shook heatedly and he stood to his feet.

Meryl couldn't speak. The information was coming in too fast. Everything was now becoming perfectly clear and all the puzzle pieces were falling into place at last. She knew the words Vash spoke were truth, and yet her brain wouldn't accept the facts. Her heart beat wildly and she lifted her hand to her lip defensively.

"See her hair?" Meryl nodded gently. "It's pure black." Vash pointed to his own spikey crown, as he whirled around. "That black is a sign of decay…in other words, death to a plant."

"Your hair is already…"

"I know. Half of my hair is already the color of hers. This happens when a plant uses up their powers." Vash looked back to the plant and ran his fingers along the glass's smooth surface. "This…"

A sharp pain suddenly ripped through his chest and he coughed roughly. Vash's eyes grew wide as he fell to his knees once again. He clenched his teeth as he saw the light in the plant's eyes fade inevitably. The man closed his eyes for a moment and concentrated, reaching out for some sort of a heartbeat, no matter how faint, but his efforts were futile.

"She's dead." Vash concluded quietly, as his eyes remained closed for a moment more. Meryl bowed her head softly, unsure of how to react to the situation.

The shaken gunman reached out with a trembling hand and grabbed the raven haired girl's hand. He squeezed it solemnly and ducked his head to his chest as well.

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Like I said, this is basically the end. There's only a real short chapter to wrap the whole thing up and I hope you'll read that one as well! Thanks again and please review!

-Quig-


	3. Chapter 3

Here's the end, read and review please!

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Chapter 3

Vash and Meryl stood together in silence paying their last respects to the fallen plant. Their hands were clasped in one another tightly. Then the tall blonde broke the icy silence.

"Let's go. Brian and Millie will be looking for us."

"Okay." Meryl silently followed the man out the door and back to the room containing Plant 2. She and Vash subconsciously released the hold of their hands as the door opened, leaving the thoughts of before behind. The second Vash crossed the threshold back into the room, his face lit up, concealing his true emotions. He started to walk towards the plant before him, but stopped suddenly with a whisper.

"Don't tell them. At least not yet." He spoke softly to the short girl and then quickly moved on. He strolled over to Brian, hovering over his shoulder, and made light, but excited conversation. He had a bright smile on his face, but Meryl could see strait through the transparent expression.

Meryl watched the gunman from the far said of the room, and felt her heart ache painfully for him. She finally understood what he was feeling…what he went through his whole life. She fought off the tears and walked up behind Millie and Vash.

"Vash?" He turned around to her soft quaking voice and smiled kindly with his bright blue eyes.

"Yes?"

"Don't worry. It's not your fault." Meryl smiled warmly, as he violet eyes glistened. Vash had a stunned look on his face at first, but grinned a moment later.

"Thank you," He said quietly and lightly wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "For understanding." Meryl gazed up at Vash and slowly smiled back.

The End

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Told you it was short and sweet! And I even added a drop of VashxMeryl in too! I know it was sad, but I still hope it was worth the read! Thanks!

-Quig-


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